Retort oven



H. KOPPERS RETORT OVEN May 29, 1928.

Filed Aug.51. i921 2 Sl'zeets-Sheetl l v lime/Z110@- 'm/W E i 'T May 29.1928. 1,671,195

H. KOPPERS 4 RETORT OVEN Patented May 29, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. .i

HEINRICH KOPPERS, F ESSEN-EUHR, GERMANY, ASSIGNOB T0 THE KOPPERS DE-VELOPMENT CORPORATION, OF PITTSBURGH, .PENNSYLVAN'IA., A OORPOE-ATION 0FPENNSYLVANIA.

Application led August 31, 1921, Serial No. 497,366, and in Germanylarch 4, 191B.

(GRANTED UNDER THE PROVISIONS 0F THE'ACT OFIARGH 3,1921, 41 STAT. Ia.,1813.)

The invent-ion relates to furnace plants with vertical distillationchambers.

' In distillation furnaces with vertical furnace chambers or retorts andheat recovery the unitary assemblage of the chambers and their heatingwalls or ues with the regenerators lcause constructional and operativediiliculties of a technical kind while these l considerations, forhorizontal furnace chambers, are solved in an entirel satisfactory way,for example by German atent- 174,323 (United States Patent 818,038). InGerman Patents'193,627, and`199,103 (United States Patent 925,815) suchfurnace plants are disclosed in which lthe regenerators are connected toU-shaped heating channels traversed, with draft reversals, by the air tobe preheated, while the gas, without reversal, is led to the' bend ofthe heating channels so that combustion takes place at any time in onebranch only ofthe heating channels. In such arrangement, however,in'iluencing of the heating in accordance with the different horizontalzones or strata is excluded,

bers to these latter by horizontal heating channels. Nowv in the firstplace, such horizontal heating channels possess certain puref lyconstruction defects as regards the structural strength of the furnaceand moreover they are not so' convenientlyI accessible for regulationand control, as vertical heating channels. Even where this accessibilityis created, as in the Patent of Addition 275,699, (United States Patent1,134,683), there is still the fact that in `this basic arrangement theregenerators themselves are incorrectly fired in that they have to betraversed by essentially horizontal currents of both the substances tobepreheated andpby the waste heat. The axiom for flame control in such`which have structural advantages;

as obviously in the same furnace plant only` chambers, where nocompulsory paths can be prescribed for the gases, which must find theirown Way through the chamber filled with the fireproof checkerwo'rk,startswith allowing the waste heat gases to How downwards from'top to-bottom and the combustion substances to be preheated to flow upwardsfrom bottom to top, because in this way uniform stressing 'of theireproof checkerwork is caused.

Ihe invention relates to such a furnace plant with vertical distillationchambers and directly connected regenerators, in which the regeneratorsare traversed as rescribed, upwardly by the fuels to be pre eated anddownwardly by the waste heat gases, and moreover vertical heatingchannels are used These heating channels, which are best arranged S0 asto separate pairs of associated furnace chambers, are connected at theupper end with a common horizontal channel at the upper end of one ofthe regenerators or of one regenerator group, while the horizontalchannel uniting saidheating channels at the lower end is also incommunication, by means of a guiding channel, with the upper end of theother regenerator or of the other regenerator group. It is here ofpurely illustrative sgnificance that thereby a certain asymmetry isintroduced in the otherwise symmetric construction of the Whole furnaceplant. With this arrangement the desired control of the strength ofheating at different level layers becomes possible 1n as far as now,with the reversal of the heating and the resulting reversed flamedirection in the heating Wall, viz, one time from top to bottom and theother time from bottom to top, a certain inequality can be brought in,by which at any time in one case more gas 1s supplied than in the.other, without however ythe mode of operation of the regenerator plantbeing altered. By this means more heat can be supplied as needed to theupper or thev lower lend lof the furnace chambers, according to theobserved requirements. This is important in as much as, inintermittently operated furnace chambers for eirample,l which divergerapidly in conical fashion'downwards, there must obviously be isosupplied more heat to the lower part, while on the contrary in furnaceplants with continuous operation the greatest heat development must takeplace at the top, in order to degasify as far as possible at once thefresh coal filled in and to convert the coke.

In the accompanying drawings a constructional example of the subjectmatter of the invention is reproduced, for purposes of illustration andexplanation but not to limit the invention to details, in whichdrawings- Fig. 1 is a vertical cross section of a furnace or ovenembodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal diagrammatic section of a portion of the same.

Figs. 3 to 5 are diagrammatic vertical sections of diEerent arrangementsof the heating chambers and regenerators, indicating the flow throughthe regenerators W, W2, which are successively reversed, and connectWith the channels Ho, Hu and u. Fig. 3 shows the hereinafter mentionedobjectionable arrangement of operating one of the regenerators inabnormalmanner, i. e., with the waste gases flowing from bottom to topof the regenerator W2 and with the fuel gases drawn from to to bottom ofthe same regenator during t e reversal period in which it is serving topreheat such fuel gases. Fig. 4 shows the arrangement ernployed in theinvention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 5 illustrates thatarrangement in which the directions of flow, in the regenerators and inthe vertical flame ilues, are the same as in Fig. 4, but with omissionof the guide channel u and consequent necessity of locating one of theregenerators below the level of the bottoms of the flame fiues.`

On the frame 10 providing convenient access to the lower opening of thefurnace chamber are constructed the regenerators 11 and 12 at the sideof the two distillation chambers or retorts 14 and 15 separated by anintermediate partition 13. The regen,- erators 11, 11 (Fig. 2) haveconnections 16 with the waste heat channel 17 and the regenerators 12,12 have similarconnections 18 with the waste heat channel 19. The gasconduits 20 'and 21 are connected always alternately by connections 22and 23 to the separate regenerators 11 and 12, and the regenerators 11and 12", respectivel arranged in pairs alongside one anotherandseparated by a thin Wall a, serve for preheating air,

. while they are separated from the adjoining gas heaters by a thicksupporting wall (Fig. 2). rlhe regenerators of the one side areconnected at the upper endto `a horizontal channel 24, from which thevertical heating passages 25 lead tothe lower horizontal Y channel'26,which 'again is connected by a guide channel 27 withv the upper'end ofthe. other regenerator group. y

' coal distillation In the one stage of operation therefore gas and airenter respectively the regenerators 11 and 11 of the one side, arepreheated therein, and pass into the upper horizontal channel 24 andburn downwardly through the heating channels 25; the waste heat gasesare led back through the channels 26 and 27 to the regenerators 12 and12', which they traverse freni top to bottom, and pass through all theopen connections 18 into the Waste heat channel 19. Vith draft reversaloperated at about half hour intervals the functions of the regenatorsand the direction of flow are reversed. It is at onceseen thathere, bystrengthening the tiring on the one side, the greater heat supply can beapplied either to the lower or to the upper end of the retorts. In everycase it is possible to carry out a regulation while work ing, inaccordance with thc observation of the operation. The heating channels25 can be made of such large cross section that the burning takes placewith sufficient slowness to heat the long 'heating channels. Theweakening of the 'heat supply at the upper end of the retorts, which ismoreover desirable in view of the withdrawal of the distillation gasesundecomposed, can also be eftected by shutting oli' thegasl'periodically in the heating stage with flow of gases from top tobottom.

With continuous operation of the furnace chambers, where n ot only is nouniformheating towards the top with gradual increase downwards required,but on the contrary, a local strengthening at the upper end of theretort, an equalization can also be effected by allowing steam to flowin to the retort from the bottom whereby the excess heat given,up to thecoke in the lower part of the chamber is usefully employed in formingwater gas. The introduction of steam is indeed quite commonly known evenin con tinuously operated furnace chambers, but in all cases there isobtained, in connectiony with the present furnace construction, thespecial effect that on the whole the heat supply is adapted torequirements. Also the regenerative heating plays a special part in thiscase, in that on the whole a higher temperature stage is attained, sothat in the first place a larger amount of heat is available for watergas production and moreover this reaction takes place at a highertemperature. This latter is very important because on this account theprdduction ofjwater gas is always more perfect. Thereby a significantimprovement in illuminating gas is made for the future,'which accordingto all antici pation, will consist usually of a mixture of gas and watergas produced from coke.

Structurally the further valuable possibility is obtained that byanchoring they up can be directly supported, and the thick l partitionbetween the regenerators can be given different functions by lcating it.in the intermediate plane between the mdivldual furnace chamberswhereby a direct pres-v sure transmission is possible.

What is claimed isy 1. An oven plant having, in combination: verticalretort chambe'rs; parallel vertical heating-fines; regenerators soarranged that the combustion gases being preheated flow throu h themfrom bottom to top and that the o `going wastega-ses How through themfrom` top to bottom; an upper horizontal channel directly connecting thesaid vertical heating-dues with the top of one of the regeneratorgroups; and a lower horizontal channel and a guide channel so arrangedthat said vertical heating-fines are connected by said lower horizontalchannel and through said interposed guide channel with the top of theother regenerator group.

2, A; urnace plant-having in combination: vertical retorts; groups ofregenerators traversed from bottom to top by thefuels to be preheatedand from top to bottom by the waste gases; parallel vertical heatingchannels arranged alongside said retorts; upper horizontal. channelsconnecting the upper ends of said heating fines with the upper endsof'one 'group of regenerators; horizontal channels connecting the lowerends ofy said fines with a guidechannel communicating with the upperends of the other group of regenerators.

3. The method of operating a colte oven plant havi vertical retortchambers, parallel vertica heating-fines, two groups of re-y generatorsso arranged that the combustion ases being preheated flow through themrom bottom to top and that the olf-going "waste frases flow through themfrom top to bottom, an upper horizontal channel directly connecting. thesaid vertical heating-fines with t-he top. of one of the regeneratorgroups, and. a lower horizontal channel and a guide channel so arrangedthat said vertical hea'ting-ilues are connected by said lower horizontalchannel and through said guide channel with the top of the otherregenerator group, 'said method of operatin comprising:

continuously downilowing t rou h saidl chambers ya charge being coked 1nsame; supplylng substantially the same amount of heat'at the lower endsof thevertical flues that is supplied at their up er ends by firingalternately 'upwardly and ownwardly at the bottom and at the top of saidyflues -respectively, so that substantially the Asameamount of wasteheat flows olf in'alternation throughl the respective regenerator groupsI during both directions of firing of such lues; and absorbing the heatsup lied at the lower portion of the retort c ambers, over and abovethat necessary for completmg the cok- .'ing of the descending charge, bysupplying alternation for supply of preheated combustion gases to andfor exhaust of waste gas from said flues ra regenerator being connectedat its 4upper part to each of said flues at substantially their lowerends, and a regenerator connected at, its upper part to each of saidlues at substantially their upper 4 ends whereby each' of said verticalflues maybe fired upwardly from their lower ends and downwardly fromvtheir upper ends in 96 alternation. v

5. A coke oven having in combination: al lurality of ,vertical retortchambers; paral el vertical heating -flues intermediate pairs 'ofassociated vertical retorts; two groups of reversible regeneratorsoperable for inflow of combustion gases and outflow of waste gas, saidregenerators being so arrangedthat the combustion gases being preheatedmay flow through them from bottom to top and that the olf-going wastegases may flow 100 through them from top to bottom; flow ductl meansconnecting each of said heating lues at their upper ends vwith a pair ofre enerators,v of one group atthe upper parts o said pair" ofregenerators; .ow duct means connecting each of said heating lines attheir lower en with a pair of regenerators of the lother group at theupper parts of said pair of regenerators, said pairs .of regeneratorsbeing constituted of an aifregenerator and a gas regenerator when thevtlow is through them from bottoml to topf, vwhereby `each of said fluesmay be fired ends and downwar in alternation.v 1 v Inltestimony whereof,'Ijhave hereunto set. my hand this 25thfday oJul' 1921. L

ly from their upper ends ufpwardly from their lower

